Bastille

About

The bastille Saint-Antoine, often simply called the Bastille, and formerly the fort and bastide Saint-Anthoine lez Paris, is a fortress built in the 14th century, at the location of the outlet of the rue Saint-Antoine on the present Place de la Bastille in Paris. It became a prison, considered the symbol of monarchy despotism, and was totally destroyed during the French Revolution, of which it was one of the triggering events.

Fortress: Initially, the Bastille was a bastide (two tower castle) of the Saint-Antoine gate of Charles V's enclosure, hurried from 1356 to 1358 during the provost of Étienne Marcel. In 1367, King Charles V decided to provide the back of this gate with an enclosure forming a real urban castle (a bastille forming an independent relief with its own garrison) by raising the two towers and building six more. This fort was intended to defend the Saint-Antoine gate and the ramparts of East Paris that became more vulnerable. It was also used to protect the king in case of revolt by the Parisian people because he could secure the road linking the king's residence to the hotel...